Page 24 - C.A.L.L. #40 - Winter 2015

Change of address -The Kibbutz goes urban

By BARBARA BAMBERGER
Jerusalem Post - June 27, 2014

The idea of establishing a kibbutz in a city might seem like a contradiction. But
as standard kibbutzim move towards privatization, a new model is popping up in
cities around Israel. It is fueled by the belief that kibbutz values – democracy,
social justice, love of Israel – offer real solutions to social problems, and that

the best place to effect change is from within. To this end, the Dror Israel
Movement recently purchased a derelict corner lot in the struggling Shapira
neighborhood of Tel Aviv, and is poised to begin construction on the first
building specifically designed to function as an urban kibbutz. Dror Israel is
made up of adults who grew up in the Labor Zionist youth movement Hanoar
Haoved Vehalomed (NOAL). Originally from Rishon Lezion, Eli Shamsian, 36,
joined NOAL at the age of 13. “The movement recommended that instead of
going to a kibbutz, we consider going to a city. We agreed and went to Tel Aviv,
where we ran programs for young people.”

In 1999, Shamsian finished
the army and remained in Tel
Aviv to help found the

original kibbutz. “I believe in
the idea of contributing,” he
says. “There’s something in
me that’s suited to living in a
group. The ‘together’ allows
for a greater contribution –
as long as the goal is shared.”
Much as in the standard
model, city kibbutznikim live

communally, pooling salaries
and resources, but instead of
working in agriculture, they
work in a variety of informal
and formal educational
capacities. The 1,200
Shapira corner lot(top) with architectural rendering of members of Dror Israel’s
the Tel Aviv kibbutz (below) “Educators’ Kibbutzim” serve

100,000 people in 158 locations around the country. Shamsian remembers the
first group of kids he mentored. “We caught three 14-year-olds red-handed,

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